Terrible Things - A Valdaya AU
by peterprentice
Summary: A tragic story about Valentin Chmerkovisky and Zendaya set to Mayday Parade's Terrible Things. This is an AU. Honestly you don't need prior knowledge of them or Dancing With The Stars to read this. T FOR CHARACTER DEATH


Terrible Things - An AU Valdaya oneshot.

Lukas Chmerkovskiy was five years old when he first fell in love. She lived next door to him and her name was Anna. She had long black hair that stopped at her back and curled slightly. She was tan and long legged, and she had the purest heart. He didn't know much about the way you should feel when you fell in love, but he knew that he would take all the ridicule on the playground from the other kids just to hold her hand behind the slide. He'd walk her home from school, share his sandwich with her at lunch, and build blanket forts with her when they had play dates. They spent every second together, and at night they'd open up their second floor bedroom windows and talk to eachother until one of them would get too tired and fall the time he was seven he knew that he would marry Anna one day.

When Lukas and Anna were Thirteen they found out that Anna would be moving to another state. It was heartbreaking for both children. They were eachother's only friends, and Lukas couldn't imagine what he would do without her. When she moved away it had rained the entire day. It was fitting, really, considering both children were in tears. It was the day that Lukas had his first real kiss. Right before they left, Anna took him into her now empty bedroom... A bedroom that they had spent so many days and nights in just being with eachother and sharing eachothers deepest secrets... and she kissed him. It was a slow, nervous kiss. One that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Then just like that, she was gone.

**_By the time I was your age, i'd give anything  
to fall in love truly, was all I could think.  
that's when I met your mother, the girl of my dreams  
the most beautiful woman, that i'd ever seen._**__

-

It had been weeks since Anna moved and Val had noticed that his son had still not recovered. He had been moody and distant. Something that Lukas had never been. He was always so full of energy and life, never had he been the kid to skip swimming with his male friends. Val didn't know how to help him. It was one of those things where you really needed your mom around to help. But that wasn't a possibility right now, and that sucked, but he needed to do something. So on one friday night he called his son downstairs to tell him a story. One that he had never told him before, even though he knew he probably should've.

"Luke, have I ever told you how I met your mother?" The two of them were sitting in the far corner of their back yard, the stars in the sky providing their only source of light other than the white christmas lights that had been hanging on the porch for as long as Lukas could remember. It was something that Lukas had always asked, but Val had never wanted to bring it up. He didn't want to sound like some cliche, or turn it into an incredibly long story... But now it was time, Lukas was grown enough now to know the story.

"No. I've always asked but..." Lukas looked down at his hands that were crossed in his lap.

"I know, well now I'm going to tell you, alright? If you want.." Val didn't know if his son even wanted to hear it. It was a long story, one that might take a few hours to tell.

"I do. If you're ready."

"I am."

"Okay then, tell me."

-

**_That's when I met your mother, the girl of my dreams  
The most beautiful woman that I'd ever seen. _**__

-

_"_It all started when we were both entered in the same dance class. We were twelve, and the moment I saw her it was like all the air in my body had been taken away from me. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life. I wanted so badly for her to be paired with me." Val smiled, remembering the first time he met Zendaya. She was shy, painfully shy. She hadn't grown into her long arms and legs yet and every move that she made was awkward. She had been a ballet dancer who wanted to make the switch to ballroom, so it was her first ballroom dance class. She was so confused the entire time, trying to catch up with the rest of the class. Most of them had been taking class since they were small children.

"Were you? Partners with her, I mean?"  
Val laughed, shaking his head. "No. Unfortunately I was too short. Your mom, she was really tall for fourteen. And me? I was short. Her partner was your uncle Maks. He was older than us and a lot stronger, and they were a really good match for awhile..." Maks and Zendaya had been an unstoppable pair for awhile. She had picked up on ballroom pretty quickly, and she put her whole heart and soul into her dances. "But she came over all the time, and we were really close."

"Like Anna and I?"

He nodded at his son, "Yes, like you and Anna. Zendaya and I did everything together. She transferred to my school after a few months, wanting to go to an arts school instead of the public school she was going to. We had every class together, and lunch. We were best friends. Did everything together. But everything changed in eighth grade... I remember our very first school dance. Our eight grade formal. That's when we started dating. She didn't have a date, and since it was a Sadie Hawkins dance, I did. But my date, she was terrible."

-

_He was fourteen years old, he shouldn't be dealing with all this ridiculous drama going on with his date Katy right now. Seriously, she was yelling at him over everything. His hair, his choice of outfit, his decision to get steak instead of a salad, even the decision to have his mom drive them to the dance instead of his brother. It was getting out of control. Honestly he didn't even know why he was at the stupid dance with Katy anyways. She wasn't the one he wanted to be with. He wanted to be with Zendaya. She was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. But she didn't ask him to the dance, Katy did. So that's who he was stuck with._

Once they got to the dance she pulled him to the dance floor and asked him to dance with her. He did, not wanting to upset the girl... even if she was crazy. But then she started bitching about the way he danced, which drove him crazy considering the girl had never had a dance lesson in her life and he was a champion ballroom dancer. It was out of control. So finally he stopped dancing, looked at her and told her to hit the road. She was pissed, but she had been pissed the entire life so it really wasn't anything out of the blue.

Val knew that somewhere in the room his beautiful best friend was somewhere without a date. He knew that she was probably sitting alone, shy as could be... waiting for someone to come talk to her. So that's what he did. He looked around the entire auditorium for her, finally finding her sitting on a chair with a cup of punch in her hand.

She was beautiful. Her red dress fit her in the most perfect way, her long hair was curled in ringlets in a way that he had never seen before, and you could tell that she put a lot of work into her makeup, even though she didn't need it. Val smiled down at her, getting a sad half smile back at him.

"You're far to pretty to look so lonely." He said, holding his hand out for her. "Dance with me?"

Zendaya looked at him hesitantly, nodding as she grabbed his hand and stood up. "You think I look pretty?" She bit her lip as they walked to the dance floor.

"You always look beautiful, Zen. Always." They turned to eachother and he took ahold of her, both hands holding her hips. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she smiled shyly at him. "You're just saying that."

Val shook his head as they began to sway to the music. "I'm not. You're beautiful Zendaya. I can't believe you dont hear that more often. If it were up to me you'd hear it constantly."

They shared eyecontact for a second before she leaned in to kiss him softly. The kiss was quick, too quick if you asked Val. But it was perfect, the most perfect thing that had ever happened to him. It was a moment that he'd never forget for the rest of his life.

"Can I tell you a wonderful thing?" She said, smiling at him. Val nodded, swaying with her.

"I know I shouldn't say this, but I really believe... I can tell by your eyes that you're in love with me."

And he was. He was so blissfully in love with her, and he knew that no one would ever be as wonderful as she was.

-

**_She said, boy can I tell you a wonderful thing?  
I can't help but notice you're staring at me.  
I know I shouldn't say this, but I really believe  
I can tell by your eyes, you're in love with me._**

"So then what?" Lukas asked, curious to know more about his mother and father's relationship. It was something that they didn't talk about a lot. Or ever really.

"Once we started going out, nothing could break us apart. Freshman year came and went, then the summer of sophomore year we both turned sixteen and were able to drive. That made being together so much easier. I don't think there was ever really a moment when the two of us werent together. I also hit my growth spurt that summer, and Maksim was too old now to take classes."

"So mom was your dance partner then?"

Val nodded, smiling at the memories. "She was. And we were great. We danced so above our age... put so much passion into our movements.. I don't think there was anyone who could beat us back then." The two of them had been some of the greatest champions out there. They had even competed in Germany for worlds when they were sixteen year olds... and won. Their deep connection was apparent when they danced. It was the best partnership that had ever happened in the history of ballroom competitions.

"Wow. Do you still have your trophies?" Lukas had danced for awhile, but he quit to do gymnastics instead. It was more of his passion. Dancing was just not something that he could put his heart into, and that was fine with Val. More than fine really.

"They're in the basement. You can look through them one day if you want to. There's also our old photo album with all of our pictures in it." He smiled at his son, patting him on the shoulder. "You're welcome to take any of them."

"I will. So anyways, back to the story."

Val nodded, "Right. the story. A few months after turning sixteen was when her grandpa passed away. And that was really hard for your mom. It put her in this really deep funk, one that took a long time to get out of."

**_Now son, I'm only telling you this...  
because life can do terrible things_**

**__**_She had been crying in his arms for over an hour now. It had been three days since her grandad had an unexpected heartattack and died. One minute he had been on the phone with her telling her that he was cooking burgers for dinner... Then the next... he was gone. There was nothing they could do to help him, at least that's what the doctors said. Zendaya knew that there had to be something that could've been done. Something that someone could have done... It was too late now. And now she was laying on her bed in Val's arms trying to get herself together to go downstairs to the memorial. She just couldnt..._

_"I know. I know baby, it's okay to cry. It's alright." Val had never seen her this upset. It was breaking his heart. He didn't know how to react in this sort of situation, so he just sat there on the bed and held her tight, rocking her as she cried in his arms. "You don't have to go down there if you don't want to Z. We can just stay in your room and you can cry. What do you want?"_

"I want my Poppa..." she cried into his arms. He felt helpess. He honestly didn't know what to do. Val had never had anyone in his life pass away. He had never even been to a funeral until this morning's service. It was painful for him to see her in this way. There was no more laughter, no more smiles. Just crying and staring off into the distance.

"I know baby, I know." He repeated, kissing her on the top of her forehead. "I'll do whatever I can to make you feel better." He contemplated going to get her dad. He always knew what to do to make her feel better. "Do you want me to go get your dad?"

He started to pull away from her, but she gripped onto him tighter. "No, please don't leave me. Please. Just hold me, okay?" He nodded and held onto her, laying down and pulling her closer to his chest.

After awhile she started to calm down and slowly drifted off to sleep. He followed shortly after her.

The rest of the summer had been hard, but eventually the smiles and the laughter came back. She came to terms with what had happened, and became a stronger woman because of it. It was something he loved about her. She was always able to bounce back.

**_Now most of the time, we'd have too much to drink  
we'd laugh at the stars and we'd share everything  
too young to notice, and too dumb to care  
love was a story, that couldn't compare._**

"She was sad then?" Val nodded at his son, smiling at him sadly. "I had never seen her more upset then when her grandpa died. They were really close. Practically did everything together. But your mom.. She's such a fighter. She picked herself off the floor and carried on. You have to realize Luke, everyone dies. Your mom always told me that you have to live as much as you can, because you never know when your time is up on this earth. And she told me that no matter what she knew her Poppa was always there with her.. Always up there protecting her from whatever was out there to hurt her. Your mom was always such an optimist."

Val patted him on the shoulder, "You're alot like her in that aspect. You two even have the same laugh, same smile.. and same open approach to life. There's so much curiosity in your eyes, like you're always hungry for information. You want to know how everything works, how everyone works. That's the best thing you could ever hope to have gotten from your mom. It makes you such an incredible person Lukas."

There was a long pause between them before Lukas spoke up. "So, what happened next?"

"Well. We pulled through the difficult times. Junior year passed by too quickly, and we spent the summer before our senior year just being with eachother. Partying, drinking far more than we should've, spending nights laying out under the stars. It was amazing. We were both eighteen by the time senior year came around, and it was the best year of our lives so far. It was full of football games, carnival dates, going to the drive in theatre, senior trips... everything. But none of those things were quite as wonderful as prom."

"Did mom look good?"

"Luke, your mom looked beautiful. She always did, but seeing her walk down those stairs in her red prom dress, her hair the same curly way it had been at our eighth grade dance, it took my breath away. You know in the movies when the girl walks down the stairs and the music is playing slow, beautiful music? The whole scene goes into slow motion and you see that look of pure love on the mans face?" Lukas nodded, "That's what it felt like."

-

**__**_Zendaya walked down the staircase of her house slowly. Her hand trailed along the rail. Their eyes met and Val could feel his insides doing flips. He had always known that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. But tonight? Tonight she only made him realize just how right he was. She had grown into her body since their eighth grade formal. Where she used to be lanky and awkward she was now curvy and was able to hold herself with such grace. She walked as if she were on a cloud, so effortlessly. Val was so in love with her, and he never wanted her to leave his life._

"Zendaya, you look... God, you look beautiful." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a kiss. She smiled, her lips still against his, and pressed her forhead to his. "You look pretty handsome yourself. Who knew you could clean up this well?" They laughed for a moment, in their own little bubble. A bubble that they would've stayed in forever if not for her mother coughing awkwardly.

"Are we going to do pictures?"

Pictures took an hour, then dinner came around. They didn't go to prom with a group, it seemed like a silly idea considering they were all eachother needed. So dinner wasn't hectic. There was no one else screaming over the table to talk to you. It was just them, a candle and their food. It was romantic.. Something that most eighteen year old boys would never be able to come up with on their own.

Val wasn't most eighteen year old boys.

After dinner they went straight to prom where they danced the entire night. The other girls were clearly envious of Zendaya. The guys in the room were just as equally as jealous of Val. The two of them had always been the envy of their classmates. It wasn't often that you found your soulmate at twelve years old.

Halfway into prom, Val pulled Zendaya out of the ballroom of the hotel. She followed him, as she would for the rest of her life, curious to know where he was taking her.

"Where are we going?" She asked, pulling her dress up to make sure she didn't trip on it.

"It's a surprise." He smiled, pulling a bandana out of his pocket. "Do you trust me?"

"Always."

"Good. No peaking." Val smiled and put the bandana over her eyes, then leaded her to the elevator. He pushed the button to the suite and held onto her hips to guide her to the room. Once they got in he pulled the blindfolds off of her.

"Oh my god. Val." The room had been adorned with candles and roses everywhere. There was champagne in an ice bucket. The lights were dimmed so that the only thing keeping the room lit was the flicker of the candles. "It's beautiful."

"Just like you." They leaned into eachother and shared a kiss. One with more passion than they had ever had befo_re. It made their entire bodies warm, as if they were on fire._

"I love you so much."

"And I love you." 

_That was the first night they made love to eachother. A night that Val would keep with him for the rest of his life. It was perfection. _

**_I said, "Girl can I tell you a wonderful thing?  
I made you a present with paper and string.  
open with care now, I'm asking you please.  
You know that I love you, will you marry me?"_**

__"Twelve months later we had you." Val looked at his son, smiling at the boy. "It was hard, being that we were only nineteen. But your mom always said that everything happens for a reason. There was nothing in this world that would have stopped us from loving you and making sure that you had everything you needed to be as happy as possible. And honestly, Lukas, you were the greatest thing to have ever happened to us."

"Really?"

"Really. I wouldn't trade you anything.

"The night I proposed to her was one of the first nights we had gone out since you were born. You were about four months old and you cried all the time. But your mom was determined that you were ready to go out with us to eat. So we did. We went to Sauce, that Italian restaurant that you love so much?" Val laughed, thinking back to that night. "It was awful. You screamed almost the entire time. We tried to eat, but eventually they asked us to leave. So we took you and put you in the car and drove around. You always fell asleep when we were driving. Since we didn't actually get to eat anything we went to McDonalds instead. The entire night we drove, just for a little peace and quiet. At the end of the night we were exhausted and messy from being in the car for so long... BUt your mom still looked just as beautiful as she did the day we met. So I asked her to marry me. And obviously she said yes.. So the next day we went straight to the courthouse and made it official. Aside from when you were born.. It was the happiest day of my life."

_"We can't go out to eat Zen, Lukas cries ALL the time! They'll kick us out!" Val was exhausted. His four month old son had the worst colic and it made him so grouchy. Which in turn meant that Val was not getting enough sleep. Their tiny house had turned into a baby warzone. He just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry along with Lukas._

"I have faith in him, Val. He's going to be fine." Zendaya smiled at Val, that same smile that she had since he met her seven years ago. The one that could light up the entire world. "You're way too optimistic babe." He laughed, walking over to pick up Lukas, who was having a weird moment of silence.

"That's why you love me." She grinned, kissing him quickly.

_"One of the many reasons." Val couldn't believe that this was where their life was now. Lukas was an unexpected surprise. He had put a hold on their dancing career, but it was alright. When Lukas was born Val instantly fell in love. He didn't know you could love someone that much, but he did. The baby came out looking just like his mother, something that Val would later be grateful for._

"So, Sauce?" Zendaya was already pulling out an outfit for Lukas, tossing it to Val who just nodded and put it on the small baby. "Okay, but only because I love you."

"Mmmm, I'm forever grateful for your love." She giggled and walked into their bedroom to change clothes. Val quickly did the same and then the little family got in the car and headed to sauce.

They hadn't even but a dent in their bread when the waiter came over to their table, a sad look on his face. "I'm so sorry but.. We've had complaints about the screaming... My manager wanted me to ask you to leave.. You don't have to pay for the drinks." Val groaned, looking at Zendaya.

"I knew this would happen. Fuck. Why wont he stop screaming?"

Zendaya just looked at him with this smile that he'd never forget, "It isn't his fault, he's just a baby and his stomach hurts. He clearly didn't want us to eat at Sauce tonight. It'll be alright."

Val didn't know how Zendaya was always able to walk away from things with a smile on her face. She came out of everything with such understanding. Val was the opposite, he was irritated that his life had changed so much since highschool. And he was irritated that his son wouldn't stop crying.

"I just wanted one night to eat dinner somewhere other than the freaking house." He frowned, picking up the carseat with baby Lukas in it. Zendaya walked behind him, letting him be irritated for a little while.

Once they put the baby in the backseat and both of them were in the car she rested her hand on his and looked over at him with a smile. "I always say everything happens for a reason, right? There's got to be some reason for this to have happened to us. It'll be alright. We don't need to eat some fancy dinner as long as we have eachother. We could be eating a big mac for all I care." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek as he pulled out of the parkinglot. "Let's drive around and let Lukas sleep, maybe some good will come of it.

_Something did come out of it, just like she had said. He asked her to marry him and she agreed. The next morning they went to the courthouse and got married. Just the three of them. Lukas, Val and Zendaya. Just like it should be forever._

**_Now son I'm only telling you this  
because life can do terrible things..  
you'll learn one day. I'll hope and I'll pray  
that god shows you differently._**

__

"I was five when she got sick, right?" Lukas asked, watching as his father's demeanor went from happy to sad quickly.

"Right. It started out with the headaches. She was constantly getting them, and we had no idea what was going on. We tried everything, we really did. They started to get really bad... So bad that your mom, who loved you so much, didn't even have the energy to do things with you... It broke her heart."

Val paused, trying to hold himself together. This was the reason why he never talked about Zendaya. It just hurt too much.

"But she was still optimistic right?" Lukas couldn't remember much about her sickness. He was too young to retain much. But he did remember how one day she just stopped taking him places. No more Zoo, no more pool.. Nothing.

"She was. She said that it was probably nothing, and she just needed to sleep it off. I can still see her smiling through the pain." He smiled sadly, thinking of everything.

"We went to so many doctors but no one knew what was wrong.. So your mom went out of state to a specialist. I couldn't go because you were in kindergarden and you had really bad seperation anxiety. We couldn't pull you out of school.. So I stayed with you and she went to Cincinnati to see the specialist. She was there for a week. When she came home.. That's when she told me the news..."

-

**_She said, "Boy can I tell you a terrible thing?  
it seems that I'm sick and I've only got weeks.  
please dont be sad now, I really believe that  
you were the greatest thing that ever happened to me."_**

-

_"Inoperable.." Val repeated. He felt dizzy, like the world was still and he was spinning off of it. This wasn't supposed to happen. They weren't supposed to be separated so early on. "There's got to be something they can do, Zendaya. There has to be. I ..." He wanted to scream. He wanted to get up and punch holes through walls._

Zendaya just sat there, holding his hand, that same bright smile that he fell in love with was still plastered on her face. "I know. I know you're confused, and scared. But it's going to be okay. I promise. Please don't be sad. There's nothing that you could've done to change this. You know that right?" She brushed her hand across his cheekbone, leaning over to kiss him.

"How long?" He said softly, hoping that this was just a really bad nightmare.

"A few weeks." A pained look flashed across his face. A few weeks wasn't enough time. A few hundred years could go by and it still wouldn't be enough time for him. This wasn't fair, none of it was fair. 

__

"Hey - no stop. Val you've got to be strong okay? For Lukas. He needs you so much, more than you could ever imagine. It's going to be alright. The two of you will be alright without me. I fully believe that this is happening for a reason."

"What's the reason? Because I'd really love to know why god feels the need to take you away from me!"

"I don't know right now, and it may take years to figure out. But just remember that I'll always be with you. Always. I'll never leave the two of you, and I'll make sure that you are safe forever. Okay?"

"This isn't fair."

"It's life. Everyone dies, you know that."

Val didn't know how she was so calm about this. It had always been one of the things that he loved so much about her. How she was able to take everything with stride, even this.. Knowing that she only had weeks to stay on this planet. Val couldn't understand why it had to be her instead of him.

"But why you? You've never done anything wrong in your entire life."

"I know. But please don't be angry. I need you to be there for our son, because he's going to have a lot of questions."

"What do I Say to him?" Val asked, feeling deflated.

"You tell him that sometimes in life you're faced with terrible things, but you have to understand that everything happens for a reason. Everything. And you may be angry when bad things happen, but you have to pick yourself off the floor and keep going. Because there are people out there who are faced with even more terrible things. Make sure he knows to never feel sorry for himself. Never let him be angry at himself for things that he does. Let him know that people make mistakes, that's what makes us human. Humans are so raw, and he needs to know that no matter how he's feeling that I'll always be there with him. He's going to be confused, Val. I need you to be strong for him. Okay?"

Val nodded, kissing her slowly. He couldn't understand why this was happening to her.

"I'm going to leave him recordings. I'll read books, sing songs, do everything I can to make sure that I can be here for him as he grows up. I need you to promise me that you will make sure he knows how much I loved him, okay?"

he nodded again.

"What am I going to do without you?"

"You're going to live your life, and you're going to enjoy the little moments.. Like when Lukas gets grape jelly all over the couch, or when you're stuck in traffic. You're going to dance again. Promise me you'll dance again. Don't let me leaving take the love of dance away from you. You have to promise me that."

"I promise."

"And you're going to do your best to find someone who loves you as much as I do. Please don't let yourself be alone, Val. Because I will be very upset with you. You can't let yourself mourn. You have to live. Live for me."

"I will."

"I love you so much, you know that right?"

"And I love you too."

**_Slow, so slow.  
I fell to the ground, on my knees._**

"She died thirteen days later." Val said softly, wiping the tears from his face. "But in those thirteen days she spent every moment she had with you, with her family, with her friends. She recorded hundreds of tapes for you to listen to while you grew up... Some of them you haven't even seen yet. Tapes that dealt with everything from the day you found out Santa didn't exist, to your first day of middle school, to prom, to your wedding day. She loved you more than anything, Lukas.. And I know she'd give anything to be here telling this story with me right now."

Lukas had always known how much she loved him. The tapes were something that he treasured so much. Something that showed him just how much she loved. She loved with her whole heart.

"Were you angry?"

"I was angry. But having you here with me kept me going. And I knew that your mother would be so disappointed in me if I let myself drown in my own sorrows. So I did what she would've done.. I picked myself off the ground and lived for her. I danced, I sang, I did everything for her. I still do. Everything I do is for her and for the things that she couldn't do before she died."

"I feel her sometimes." Lukas said, smiling at his dad. "When I'm sad, or angry. The wind starts to blow as if she's giving me a hug. I felt it when Anna left. I just wanted to cry, and then all of a sudden the rain seemed to stop.. The wind picked up, and just started to blow and blow.. As if she was telling me that everything was going to be okay."

Val smiled at his son, a boy who looked so much like his mother. It was a constant reminder of the love he felt for Zendaya and how much he needed to be there constantly for his son. "And it will, I promise. You and Anna, you two are soul mates Lukas. One day the two of you will find your way back to eachother. Just like one day I will see your mother again."

"I'm glad you told me this story. It's nice to hear about how much you two loved eachother."

"I'm glad I was finally ready to tell you. Now it's bedtime. Love you Lukas."

Lukas bent down and gave his father a hug before running upstairs to his room. Once he got upstairs the wind started to pick up. Val just smiled at the stars, taking a deep breath.

"I love you too my Zendayachka. Always."

**_Now son, I'm only telling you this  
because life can do terrible things._**


End file.
